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After 16 years of lighting up the lives of so many in Warkworth each Christmas, Brian Oakes is moving to Silverdale.
A regular and much-anticipated feature of the festive season, his dazzling light display at his Ashmore Crescent home will be sorely missed by locals.
Last year culminated in more than 30,000 lights illuminating his house every day for three weeks, with the introduction of a laser light display, as well as music and atmospheric smoke.
“It’s sad, but it was getting to the point that it was becoming a chore,” Brian says. “It took a month to set it all up and meant I had to be out there every evening, even on Christmas Day.
“Then it was two weeks to take it all down. I kept saying each year was my last, but I enjoyed doing it. It was just hard thinking of new things each year.”
Inspired by how big America does Christmas, Brian sourced much of the equipment from there, and then with his training as an electronic technician he was able to create the spectacular display that raised a whopping $21,000 for the hospice over the last 10 years.
As a teacher and chairman at Senior Net, Brian will still be around Warkworth, but his lights will not.
Some of the lights have been sold, while the remainder will move with him to Silverdale where he will no doubt light up many more Christmases to come.
